Cincinnati Country Day baseball sees season end in DIII regional semi despite late rally

FAIRBORN, Ohio – The quest for a fifth state baseball tournament for Cincinnati Country Day remains, it just will now have to wait for spring 2024.

Down 5-2 going to their final at-bat in the seventh in the Division III regional semifinal, CCD loaded the bases against Greeneview reliever Hunter Brooks with nobody out. A balk resulted in a run, then Brooks settled down and recorded a pair of outs. He then took two-hole hitter Nate Paumier to a 2-2 count with Paumier fouling off enough balls to fill a souvenir stand.

Strangely, Greeneview coach John Marc Brooks then lifted his son and re-inserted starter Keegan Phillips. All Phillips had done was pitch the previous six innings allowing just four hits and a pair of runs. The maneuvering was all legit, meeting umpire approval.

Phillips went full on Paumier on his first pitch, then coaxed a pop fly that ended the game. As a result, he has the rare distinction of recording the win and the save as Greeneview prevailed 5-3.

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"We found out you're able to do that and I guess we used it today," Phillips said.

Said CCD coach Greg Tissot, "That was a heck of a call by their coach. Changing up the look. To bring him in, hat's off to him. They're a good team and they played great today."

High school foes, summer ball Flames

As it turns out, Phillips is a summertime member of the 2024 Cincy Flames, a team that also includes CCD's Parker Corbin and Davis Campbell. The game was tight at 2-1 until the fifth inning when Corbin relieved CCD starter Paumier and was touched up for three runs on three hits and two errors.

It looked comfortable until CCD had the go-ahead run at the plate with nobody out in their final swing.

"We felt like we'd done it so many times, we're going to do this again, we're going to walk this off and we're going to get this game," Tissot said.

Instead, two Nighthawks were left stranded on the bases as CCD's season ended at 20-12.

Though it was just two pitches, Phillips enjoyed the odd save and surely it will come up in conversation with his CCD teammates on the Flames this summer.

"You know what they like to hit, what they don't like to hit," he said. "It's an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time because they know what you're throwing."

Said CCD's Corbin, "He's a competitive dude and I'm a competitive dude. It was just two guys going at it. At the end of the day, it's just two teammates that know each other. He's a great guy. We were just competing man."

Phillips is committed to Lipscomb University outside of Nashville.

Many Nighthawks return

Tissot fully expects to be in this same position next season. Of Thursday's starting nine, only Kyle Collett departs via graduation.

CCD loses just two seniors and had four juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen on the roster. Their most productive hitters were juniors Corbin (formerly committed to Ohio State), Campbell and Andrew Zimmerman. All came into Thursday's regional semifinal hitting above .329 and Corbin topped the MVC in home runs this spring with three.

Corbin and Campbell have been CCD starters since freshman year. Sophomore Paumier led the league in wins with seven. Sophomore Elijah Guttman and senior Vlad Johns had three and Corbin who also catches and plays infield picked up a pair of victories.

CCD keeps getting close

The Nighthawks were last state champions in 2001 and 1993, long before any current players were born. They previously reached Wright State and the regionals in 2021 when Miami Valley Conference rival Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy knocked them off. CHCA went on to win the Ohio Division III state title a little over a week later in Akron.

Battling injuries last year, CCD was 11-12. Then coach Asif Shah departed for Milford. The Nighthawks then hired Tissot from Goshen. Tissot also brought along a veteran assistant in former Milford coach Tom Kilgore. Kilgore recorded over 400 wins after stepping aside from the Eagles last season. Tissot, who played for Kilgore with the Eagles, hopes to keep him on staff.

Better late than never

The Nighthawks were just 7-9 going into May but then went on a 13-2 run heading into Thursday's game with Greeneview. Both losses were tight: 9-8 to Detroit Country Day and 2-0 to MVC nemesis CHCA. Thursday looked like another comeback in the making, and first-year coach Tissot was expecting a miracle finish that didn't happen.

"Finally we put it all together, "Tissot said of the turnaround. "When that happened, a little switch happened. We changed the way we played and bought in. We learned our guys. It just took a little bit longer than we thought. This group is special."

While CCD turns in the uniforms, Greeneview meets Heath Friday at 5 p.m. at Nischwitz Stadium at Wright State to see who moves on to next week's state semifinals in Akron. Heath defeated Waynesville 9-0 in Thursday's other DIII regional semifinal.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA baseball: CCD loses in 2023 DIII regional semi vs. Greeneview